Eleven Madison Park has earned nearly every accolade a restaurant can get. It has three Michelin stars, glowing reviews, and in 2017 it was voted as the best restaurant in the world. I've always wanted to dine there, but it doesn't come cheap.
I went with the full tasting menu, which set me back $365, but that was before tax, tip, and beverages. One thing's for sure, I had a meal like no other. It's a beautiful day today here in New York City. Right now I'm at Madison Square Park and I can't be more excited because today for lunch I'll be going to a bucket list restaurant of mine. In just under an hour I'll be going to the iconic three Michelin starred and best restaurant in the world winner for 2017 11 Madison Park.
Right now there's a massive line of people in front of the restaurant. They're waiting for the restaurant's bake it nice series in which the restaurant offers croissants. I lined up last year and got three amazing and beautiful pastries, but today I'm not lining up at all.
I'm going straight into the restaurant and I'm going all the way. I'm getting the full-on tasting menu. Now, like I said, I've always wanted to go to this restaurant. When they won the best restaurant in the world award in 2017, it kind of gave me a sense of national pride because for once, the best restaurant in the world wasn't Noma or Osteria Francescana. It was here in the US and it made me So proud.
However, my heart broke a bit in 2021 when chef and owner Daniel Hume announced that Eleven Madison Park will become a strictly vegan restaurant. I, and like a lot of other people, were disappointed. I really love meat.
Although, Eleven Madison Park still maintained their three Michelin stars even with the switch to the plant-based menu. At the end of the day, the thing I'm after is good food. I don't care if it has meat or fish, it just has to taste good.
I just happen to think that meat and fish taste the best. Nevertheless, I'm here, I'm excited to see how Eleven Madison Park can take a plant-based menu and elevate that food to three Michelin stars. Plus, it's not just the food, it's the experience I'm also after.
I mean, Eleven Madison Park is famous for their world-class hospitality. And the restaurant's dining room is probably one of the most spectacular in all of New York City. So with that being said, I got about a half hour more of waiting, and then it will be time for me to make one of my culinary dreams come true at 11 Madison Park.
11 Madison Park is located in the Flatiron District of New York City. It's housed in the iconic Metropolitan Life North Building, which was originally intended to soar to 100 stories, but with the arrival of the Great Depression, plans changed. As a restaurant, Eleven Madison Park went through a number of iterations. Restaurant tour Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group opened the establishment in 1998. In fact, the whole process of what it took to open EMP is depicted in the 2010 documentary, The Restaurant Tour. At first, the business began life as a popular brasserie, serving steak frites and the like, but Danny Meyer knew the space could be so much more.
He enlisted rising chef Daniel Hoom and tapped Will Godera as the restaurant's general manager. Together, the pair transformed EMP into a world-class establishment. In 2011, Danny Meyer sold the restaurant to Hoom and Gadara, who continued to push Eleven Madison Park even further. Will writes about all of this in his excellent book, Unreasonable Hospitality, which I highly recommend.
Despite maintaining three Michelin stars and being named as the best restaurant in the world, Chef Daniel Hoom risked it all when he announced in 2021 that EMP would become a strictly plant-based establishment. It wasn't a smooth transition by any means. The first reviews weren't kind and there were a number of controversies.
However, Eleven Madison Park still maintained their three Michelin stars and their menu seems to have found its footing. There was no question about it. I was excited. When I arrived to the restaurant and was seated at my table, I took in the magnificent space. The dining room was very impressive.
The ceiling soared to over 30 feet high. massive windows brought in an ample amount of light and there were elegant finishes and art deco touches all around. It was a great looking dining room that was truly fit for a special meal.
I didn't have much of a wait until I was presented with the menus but there weren't any for the food rather I was presented lists for the beverages. In fact when I made my reservation I had to choose and pay for what I would eat in advance. There were three different menus on all offer. I went with the full tasting for $365, but there's also an abbreviated five course menu, which goes for $285.
In addition, there's a Our tasting menu which consists of four to five courses that is served in the restaurant's lounge and it costs 225 bucks the anxiety inducing thing about paying for my food in advance was that it was a hell of a lot of money And it was non-refundable Thankfully, I made it to EMP with a pulse so I was able to contemplate the beverage offerings. The smaller of the two menus featured a selection of cocktails, but also listed the wine pairings. I would have loved to have tried a pairing, but they were quite costly for me, and I was already spending a lot on my food. I still, however, looked at the wine list, which was massive.
The selection was excellent, with a particularly fine variety of champagne. In addition to the two menus, I was also given a hot towel, which was a nice welcoming touch. In the end, I went for wine by the glass and chose a Chenin Blanc, which was a 2022 Florin Combe Lamont from the Loire Valley. It was a pleasant light wine, the kind that can easily pair well with a lot of food and I liked it. Soon enough, I was presented with my first of many courses.
In fact, I was actually given two items at once. The first item was a roasted allium tea, which was basically like an onion tea. It had a warm, soothing flavor. It truly was a delightful and comforting beverage.
Also on the table was a small bite, almost like an amuse, consisting of onion rice and Thai basil. I really liked that one. The onion flavor was spot on and was complemented with a pop of... herbalness from the basil.
The dish also paired wonderfully with the tea. After I finished, I experienced some of the world-class hospitality EMP is known for. My server noticed that I used my phone to prop up my camera to film myself.
As a result, she brought me these sort of coaster-like objects that I could use instead, which was very nice. In fact, some of the instances of hospitality at the restaurant are legendary. For instance, in his book, Will Gadara told the story of how he once overheard a group of tourists lamenting the fact that they didn't get the chance to try a classic New York hot dog.
This prompted Gadara to pop out of the restaurant, stop at a nearby cart to grab a hot dog, and convince the chef to serve the dish with some fancy garnishes. The diners loved it. In fact, that occurrence inspired a scene on the show The Bear in my favorite episode, Forks. A guest was overheard saying that they were bummed that they didn't have the chance to try deep dish pizza.
This resulted in Richie being sent out to get a pie, the plate was dressed up, and served to the customers. Throughout my lunch, I certainly enjoyed some top-tier hospitality. My next course was a beautiful, minimalist dish of a marinated leek salad with green chili. It was delicious. The leeks were so soft and tender.
Frankly, I've never experienced that sort of texture on a leek before. The sauce or broth that the leeks were rested in was also a joy to eat. It was bright and vibrant with a bit of spice and acidity. Combined with the leeks, it was an absolutely excellent dish to awaken the palate. My lunch was truly off to a great start.
Next up was the laminated brioche with squash butter. I've heard great things about EMP's bread offerings in the past, and considering how delicious my bread and butter looked, I couldn't have been more excited. The second I started to cut into that loaf, brioche shrapnel began flying everywhere. My goodness, I was making an absolute mess at one of the world's greatest restaurants.
Even when I began pulling apart the bread, flakes were just littering that pristine white tablecloth. As a result, I became a little self-conscious, and when I went to take a bite, I leaned in a bit closer to my plate than I normally would to try to reduce the brioche debris from falling on my table. However, that... bread was special.
It was warm, flaky, texturally on point, and well balanced. I couldn't believe that it was vegan. To get that sort of lamination without using real butter was astounding. My loaf was paired with a squash butter, and it was pretty special as well.
I don't think that I've ever been visually impressed with butter, but that squash butter had a great look to it. The flavor was nice as well, and I believe there was also a bit of maple in that circular section of the butter, which added a nice sweetness. Overall the bread and butter were amazing even if it constantly brought servers to my table to wipe away the crumbs I feel like the restaurant probably had to hire more employees just to deal with the onslaught of brioche shrapnel When I finished my bread it looked like a crime scene Next up was the ton burri with avocado cucumber and mint ton burri is the dried seed of the summer cypress plant It's sometimes called land caviar or field caviar. I've got to say I loved the look of that plate but there was a lot more to that course than just a nice presentation because it really delivered on flavor.
The tamburi certainly reminded me of caviar, but it had a... uniqueness all to itself. The avocado was nice and creamy and was the perfect vessel to cradle the tamburi.
Combining that with the mint and cucumber sauce gave the course a fantastic freshness. So far I felt like the courses at EMP have just gotten better and better. Following the tamburi was a tofu dish that contained colored greens and radishes. Visually everything seemed so precisely arranged with that course.
In fact every plate I had that afternoon was just beautiful. Tofu was delicious and had a perfect creamy texture. All of the other components of that course contributed wonderful earthy notes.
Plus that broth was just filled with flavor. Next up was a mushroom dish. King oyster mushroom. With pickled enoki, ginger.
The course consisted of a fried king oyster mushroom with ginger and black lime. Once again the presentation was stunning and I was eager to try it. The mushroom had such a satisfying crisp to it and a rich umami flavor.
Eleven Madison Park is hyper focused on seasonality and as a result I enjoyed their fall menu for that lunch. This meant that I was served dishes containing components like squash and onions with earthy flavor profiles and the like. I definitely thought that my meal so far really showcased the season well. Next up was a bok choy dish that was partly prepared table side. This next to your course, we're steaming it here with lemon peel and thyme infused water.
Amazing. Inside of this art piece made by Rashid Johnson who also did all the art. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Excellent.
I really enjoyed the table side presentation as it added a sense of theatricality to my lunch. But my eyes were partly glued to the beautiful Piedmont truffles which would adorn my dish Finally the course was finished with a mushroom and white truffle sauce First bite was heavenly. The bok choy was perfectly cooked, but it was that rich umami-laden sauce that took the dish to another level.
I loved it. From that point the bok choy became my new favorite dish of the day. But that was about to change as my final savory course would prove to be not only my favorite dish of the lunch, but one of the best things I ate all year. It was a red curry squash with Thai chili and lemongrass.
Alongside the course were a couple of components that I could add to the dish, which included a finger lime. First, I mixed in those two elements with my squash and then dove right in. To put it plainly, that dish was a masterpiece. It had it all.
It seemed like every flavor profile was alive in that bowl at once. once. It was both sweet and savory, acidic and rich, and maintained a bit of spice all at the same time.
The squash was perfectly cooked and texturally on point. I really loved the pop of acidity from the finger lime and the textural sensation it added to the dish. In fact, finger limes are also called caviar limes and I definitely saw why.
Simply put, that course transported me to heaven. For dessert, I was in for quite a surprise as I was invited to Eleven Madison Park's kitchen and I got to meet Dominic Roy, the chef de cuisine of the restaurant. I really appreciated the experience as I have such respect for chefs and the hard work they put into their craft, especially those working at such high-level restaurants like EMP. The best part of my kitchen visit, however, was a special palate cleanser that was prepared right in front of me. It's just maples here.
Oh, excellent. fresh maple. Beautiful. That we are rolling on top of snow. Wow.
It is snow. Interesting. But our snow is a little bit different. Yeah. Basically, it was maple syrup.
dipped in a special snow fashioned out of apples. It was refreshing, delicious, and fun. Once I was back at my table, it was time for the rest of the desserts.
To start things off, I was presented with two dishes at once. One plate featured a sort of mochi-like taco that was filled with a cool sorbet with ginger and vanilla. Loved it. The mochi was the perfect texture and the flavors were on point. It was a wonderful treat that also Also paired very nicely with the grapes on the second plate.
I believe my server said that the fruit came from New Jersey of all places. There were a few different varieties and they were excellent. Although I could have easily been seduced by the nice plating. Nevertheless, both of those courses were a joy to eat. Finally, I was given my last bite to sort of signature the restaurant a sesame chocolate pretzel.
I thought that it was fun and delicious. It was sort of like a Reese's peanut butter cup. In addition, I was poured a bit of a pleasant vermouth, which was a true joy to drink. With everything finished, it was time for the bill.
Since I had to purchase my lunch in advance, the only item I had to pay for was my glass of wine and leave a tip. Because of the incredible service, I left a $90 tip. which meant I spent a total of $503.72 for my lunch.
As a result, that ended up being one of the most expensive meals that I've ever had, but it was also one of the best meals that I've ever had, and it didn't consist of any meat. Like I said earlier, when EMP first transitioned to a plant-based menu, the initial reviews weren't great. It seemed like critics felt like the restaurant used vegetables too often to stand in for meat dishes.
What I experienced was thankfully different. the courses I tried could truly stand on their own. own and weren't trying to imitate something else.
From start to finish my experience at 11 Madison Park was amazing. Before I left I was given a gift bag of the restaurant's signature granola which I enjoyed in the days following my meal and I've got to say it was excellent. However one thing that I didn't receive was a menu. It's almost a fairly common practice for the upper end tasting menu establishments to give their guests take home menus of the courses they had with their meal.
I wish I would have gotten one from EMP as I know they've done it at points in the past. Although I did email the restaurant and they generously provided at least a PDF of the menu, which I really appreciated. Despite that one little issue that many wouldn't even care about, my lunch at 11 Medicine Park was nearly perfect. That was absolutely phenomenal. That was one of the best meals I've had this entire year.
And it didn't even have any meat in it. nor any animal products for that matter, including the gloriousness of cheese. I really enjoyed every single course, but I think the tasting menu got better as it went along. I mean that squash dish was absolutely amazing. It just blew me away.
That was also probably some of the best service and hospitality that I ever got to experience in any restaurant. I mean it was practically perfect. My server was excellent, but really I got to interact with a lot of people.
lot of people in that restaurant and everyone was so nice and accommodating. I mean, it was just flawless service. Plus the whole vibe that the staff sort of fostered really created a very approachable and relaxing atmosphere that I really appreciated. Some of these super fancy and expensive restaurants, you just feel kind of awkward and it kind of feels a little uptight slash pretentious, but there was none of that at Eleven Madison Park. Not to mention, that dining room is absolutely stunning, and I've seen so many pictures of it, and none of them do it justice.
Being there is such a completely different feel. It is so incredible. At the end of the day, with the food, the service, the atmosphere, Eleven Madison Park is truly a special place.
So considering I spent around $500 for my lunch, was it worth it? To me... Absolutely. I live for these sorts of experiences and today I just got one of the best culinary experiences of my life. Now I do understand these sorts of dining experiences are not necessarily for everybody, but for me, for fans of food, I really, really appreciated it.
Although for me that was a hell of a lot of money for a lunch and as a result, I'm gonna have to watch my spending in these upcoming weeks, but still... it was worth it. Plus, having these sort of special culinary experiences is sort of motivational for me. One of my goals is to visit the very best restaurants in the world, and after having gone to Eleven Madison Park, I feel so hyped and motivated to get to work so I can have experiences like that again. I waited a long time to dine at Eleven Madison Park, but the wait was worth it.
Even though they don't serve meat anymore, it was still a very special place, and it meant all of my expectations and exceeded them. To sum it up, my meal at 11 Madison Park was incredible. Today was a magical day and I hope to one day return to that glorious restaurant. It's a special place.